Thursday, March 29, 2012

Read Aloud Thursday // A Little Bit of This and That

We’ve been a little all over the place with our reading lately, so this is a bit of catch up with a couple books that we’ve finished and are worth noting!

To loosely give us a little science, we have been reading about Beatrix Potter and her love of animals. The Country Artist was short biography of Miss Potter that we all enjoyed. Just the right reading and interest level for my girls, and we interspersed the chapters with some of her beloved animal tales. (So far, we’ve slowly read through the ones relating to rabbits.) : )

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This book below has been, by far, one of my favorites for the year. We have absolutely loved anything that we’ve read about Lewis and Clark. Either my memory isn’t that good, or I’ve never really done much reading about them before, but their expedition across the United States was FASCINATING. In our day and age, it is hard to comprehend that the terrain of the US was so rough that it took them 2 1/2 years to travel it. (Granted they were also going by canoe, horseback or foot, but still … it was rough going).

This book is written from the viewpoint of Captain Meriweather Lewis’ dog, Seaman, which he purchased for $20 right before their journey. Seaman was an extremely loyal Newfoundland and has no small part in their adventures. (Of note, there is a unit study of this book for free at Homeschool Share that I had hoped to get to and may still pull from).

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Saving Lewis and Clark from a rampaging buffalo one night was only one of the stories about this dog included in this book.

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While this doesn’t count as something you read aloud, I can also recommend the National Geographic program about Lewis & Clark, Great Journey West. (If you have Netflix Instant Streaming, you can also view it there). Again, fascinating. Like when I read The Long Winter recently to my girls, I so take my life of ease for granted, not really thinking of these men (and women) that travelled and paved the way so that we have the freedom and ability to live wherever we want in this great nation.

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Lastly, and also of VERY IMPORTANT NOTE, I’m including something a little different on this week’s RAT post. A certain kindergartener has discovered the Elephant & Piggie books, and has read them aloud to me this week! Each time she picks one up, she prefaces them by saying, “Oh, mom, this one is so funny!”

While I previously thought these books were cute, I am now a huge fan as I have watched N2 devour them and read them to whoever would sit still long enough to listen.

For more Read Aloud Thursday posts, make sure and visit Amy over at Hope is the Word!

4 comments:

  1. Funny, my oldest just read the Lewis and Clark and Me book. He really enjoyed it. Thanks for the tip on the National Geographic program. We will have to check that out!

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  2. I haven't read any of these except the Mo Willems books. Thanks for bringing them to my attention! And those Mo Willems books give me an idea. . . I think Louise might REALLY like them, and we haven't read any of them in a while.

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  3. I've had a lot of Elephant & Piggie requests around these parts lately. Bookworm2 declares them: "So funny, Mommy. So funny!"

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  4. so excited to hear about the Lewis and Clark and Me book. i read Seaman ( http://www.amazon.com/Seaman-Explored-Lewis-Clark-SEAMAN/dp/B001TLC0YI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333109991&sr=8-2 ) to my kiddos this year and like you were enthralled by their journey. we watched the National Geographic film too, when we finished the book. i highly recommend Seaman!

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Thanks for commenting!

One of my goals this year has been to diversify my reading. As I've spent the last 17 years homeschooling anywhere from 1-4 kids, I woul...